5 Featurette - The Making of T2; More Than Meets the Eye; The Making of T2:3D; The Making of T2-3D; Video Features; Data Core

Original screenplay

Filmographies

Dolby Digital trailer

DTS trailer

Terminator 2 - Judgement Day: UE

Universal/Universal .
R4 . COLOR . 147 mins .
M15+ . PAL

Feature

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Being the coolest DVD review site in the world, ever (as voted by The Worldís Coolest DVD Review Sites, Ever.com), we thought it fitting that we do something a little special for the long awaited release of the Terminator 2 Ė Judgement Day: Ultimate Edition DVD to our region. So, I recently got on the phone and threatened various important people with grievous bodily harm until my demands were met, and now I delight in publishing for you a worldwide exclusive interview with the star, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Enjoy!

DVDnet: Arnold, thanks for your time today, Iím sure that with your T3 publicity and your political work youíre a pretty busy man?

DVDnet: Thanks, well, as you know, Australia has finally been granted a proper DVD release of your 1991 box office monster, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, having previously only had a bare bones version containing just the theatrical version of the film. What say, if any, did you have in Australia finally getting this two disc version? Were you involved at all?

A.S: Ov corze it is! Do you haf a problem widt dat, you widt your puny little arms and girly legs? You know, I could breagk you in twoÖ

DVDnet: Absolutely not! Sir. I er, just meant, well, weíve waited a long time to get what we feel should have been released here years ago. Now that I know why, Iím happy that it was all a simple misunderstanding. Uh, moving right on, what can you tell us about your involvement in making T2?

A.S: Oh! Idt was funtazic! You know, Jim Cameron is a funtazic director, and he is a funtazic person to vork vor, so it woz a funtazic time for everyone. De only thing I didnít like was spending 5 hours a day having my skin pulled ovf my face so they couldt show my shiny endoskeleton. It was very boring and it hurdt a lot.

Sorry, I thought there was a door here.

DVDnet: Oh, you mean the makeup appliances they attached to your face, to make it look like your face had been blasted away by gunshots?

A.S: No, are you deavf? I mean dey pulledt my sgkin ovf so you could see my endoskeleton underneath. Idt was very painful, and den dey vould just fill the holes up again wiz zome Zilly Putty. Loog! Loog at my face! Zee? I haf horrible scars now!

A.S: Öandt den Jim agsked me to rip my own arm ovf near da end, and I zed ďBudt Jim, dat might hurt a lot!Ē and he zed ďBudt Arnuldt, I thought you were a man and wanted to be a ztar! A real ztar would rip hiz arm ovf for me! Anyway, I can haf Stan Winston make you a new arm later if you vant, he is a genuz!Ē Zo I zed ďOkay, Jim, only if Stan magkez me a new arm, den Iíll rip my arm ofv vor you.Ē So I did it, and idt really hurdt alodt, and I tink you can zee thadt pain in da film, andt den Stan made me dis new cyborg arm, which loogs really really goodt, but zometimes when I use a microwave I punch myself in the head. Udderwise, idtís really amazink! Stan Winston I tink is a genuz!

A.S: Yez, har! Jon is funtazic as well! Heís very much like Jim, he expected me to do all dese crazy things and I would just say ďAre you sure idtís safe?Ē undt heíd say ďSure, sure, Arnie, it doesnít madder, budt it will loogk amazink on screen!

DVDnet: So your stuntman and the CGI guys had quite a lot of work to do, from what I saw in both T2 and T3. How do you feel about being too old to do your own stunt work, and having your work cleaned up by CGI?

This is how a Terminator takes a leak.

A.S: Stuntmen? CGI? Whadt are dey? Is dat some crazy DVD talk or zomethingk? Jim or John wouldt say ďArnie, in dis scene, Iím going to hang you from a crane and drive you through a wall and rip ovf halvf your face, okay?Ē and I would zay ďOkay John, do you want me to say somethingk witty when I come through the other side?Ē and he vould say ďNo, donídt zay anyting, jusdt donít die, hokay?Ē

DVDnet: But watching the bonus features on this new DVD, we can see quite clearly that you have stuntmen and they use lots of CGI to create things that are impossible for you to do...?

A.S: Andt your are stoopid too if you believe whadt dey say. Loogk at me. I am massif, I am hooge, am I amazink. You need a stuntman to write your puny reviews and to haf sex widt your wife because you are a liddle girl with liddle girl arms.

DVDnet: ...and on that note Arnold, weíll take a break so I can wrap up the technical parts of this review for our readers, then Iíll come back to you to finish the interview in our summary..

A.S: Har! Har! Har! You mean, Iíll be bach?

DVDnet: Guess I should have seen that one comingÖ

A.S: Shuddup liddle girl.

Video

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Well, into the nuts and bolts of this release, can you imagine the pressure they were under to produce a quality product? If they screwed this transfer up, youíd never hear the end of the Internet fanboys crying into their warm milk on various forums and newsgroups. ďIt takes this long to get here, then they screw it up - letís boycott this DVD!Ē Well, put your underwear back on your heads, people, this is a great transfer of a great film, on a great DVD, so chill out.

Itís in the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio, itís 16:9 enhanced, and itís looking probably as good as the day they struck the prints for its release, unless Sony releases their new Pink with Green Polka Dot Ray DVD technology tomorrow, this is about as good as it will look for a while, or at least until they release the T2: Seriously, This is the Best One Edition to tie-in with the T3 release on DVD.

Region 4: Original Release (Theatrical Version)

With barely a blemish to deface the picture, it looks very clean and as detailed as possible. Look hard and look long, because you wonít find many negatives with the picture, but with the age of the film and the fact that it was shot on Super 35 in mind, the detail visible isnít quite up to the hyper-real modern standards, but it still looks pretty damn sweet and nicely cinematic at that.

Region 4: Ultimate Edition (Special Edition Version)

When the bullets start to fly and the action becomes a little more manic, the picture holds together beautifully and reveals every bit of on-screen destruction, and the trademark heavy use of blue night-time scenery by Cameron looks just right. Aliasing? Pah! What aliasing? Iím watching on a 55 inch screen and I saw stuff all of it worth worrying about. In fact, forget I even brought it up. Ditto for edge enhancement Ė stuff all. Forget I mentioned that, too.

Region 4: Me pretending to be a Terminator.

So I guess itís probably a testament to how good the original Region 4 release was that this newer version doesnít show up too much in the way of differences at all. Check out the comparison screengrabs Iíve included, not much to tell one from the other is there? Especially the third image, a dashing, virile looking young man, isnít he? I hear heís available for Terminator 4: Attack of the ATMís if they ever make it. Anyhoo, I guess what all my blather adds up to is a winning DVD transfer on all counts. Big display, small display, whatever, itíll look great.

Audio

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Good old Gary Rydstrom, heís a busy little devil, isnít he? On top of the not inconsiderable job he did on the original theatrical version of T2, heís come back a couple of times since and remixed the film for the various incarnations. This time he set his considerable talent to remixing the entire film to take advantage of EX decoding for the DVD release. Naturally the film was first released theatrically well before this nifty little format enhancement was even thought of, so this is an effort that is above and beyond the call of duty to the benefit of the home movie fan, and we certainly do appreciate it. Not only is it a DD-EX mix (not flagged), but you can also switch over to a companion DTS-ES(flagged) track as well. Cool, eh?

As for the actual integration of the extra channel, the result is sometimes mixed, with the more discrete effects effective, but sometimes a little jarring because they seem oddly placed in relation to the on-screen action. Other times, pulling in with the R/L surrounds, there are some impressive moments where gunshots echo through the room from front to back, mimicking the interiors of the elevator and underground carpark at the mental facility where Sarah Connor is making her violent breakout.

Deciding which is best of the DD and DTS tracks isnít a simple exercise, as on-the-fly switching for comparison between the two is hampered by a mismatch in volume, the DTS being much louder. Accounting for this, the results for 90% of the time seem to be near identical, with the DTS only marginally edging out in front with slightly better bass and higher frequencies, giving the impression of a little more range. The difference isnít massive though, so you can be assured that if you stick with the DD EX track youíre still going to thoroughly enjoy the film.

Extras

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For many people, the extensive selection of extra material is the compelling reason to own this DVD, and fair enough too, because it is a nicely assembled lot. There are a few minor things on the first disc, but itís the second disc that gets the ball rolling properly with probably more than youíll even need to know about T2.

Disc 1

I'm waaaaatching yooooooou, meatbag.

With the scary as f*ck image of an endoskeleton staring out at you, the menu system certainly looks the part. Stare at it long enough and youíll swear the eyes are moving as it watches back, just waiting for an opportunity to stick a kebab skewer through your eyeball.

Filmographies/Bioís
A selection of text screens for the main cast and crew.

Audio Commentary Ė Cast/Crew
Involving what seems to be practically everyone ever to do with the making of the film, this is lead by Van Ling, who feeds us a fair bit of info himself (obviously scripted) and handles the introductions of all the other participants, who have had their comments spliced together to make one big commentary. Although this could have been a mess, itís surprisingly interesting and flows very well, with plenty of commentary from Cameron, and smaller titbits from cast and crew. To keep from losing track of whoís yapping away, you can view a subtitle stream which places the name of the commentator in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Why they didnít just add a full commentary subtitle stream as well, I donít know, but it seems to be about the only thing this DVD set doesnít have. Still, Iím taking two points off for not including it. This lack of attention to detail is simply unforgivable. And yes, Iím just kidding.

THX Optimiser
For setting up your audio and video to give the best possible reproduction of the film. If youíre happy with your gear, leave it alone. If you want to be adventurous and fool around, go right ahead and see what happens, but donít blame me.

Easter Egg
Check out our Easter Egg Department for info on how to access this little bonus which is hidden in the main menu. We want you to work for it, damn it, now go there and look!

Thatís it for Disc 1, thanks for coming, and we hope you enjoyed the reviewÖ

Öoh, sorry, Amy tells me that I have to actually review the second disc, seeing as how itís full of bonus stuff and all. You better appreciate all the work I put into itÖ

Disc 2

The Making of T2 Ė Judgement Day (30:54)
Made around the time of the film, this is a good quality geez into the making of the film, with plenty of behind the scenes stuff to satisfy, such as the creation of the various effects (nuclear destruction, animatronic Terminator etc). Arnold looks remarkably young, which goes to show how much time has passed, and heís a funny bugger too.

T2 Ė More Than Meets the Eye (22:02)
Plenty of scenes didnít make the final theatrical cut of the film, and here Cameron, Arnold and others discuss what they were and why they had to go, even if a great many fans will disagree heartily. Itís kind of a pity that the films have to be cut set to rules of how long people can sit and watch a film before going to the dunny, but thatís the movie biz, I guess.

The Making of T2:3D Ė Breaking the Screen Barrier (23:09)
A big plug for the Universal Studios creation of a large scale 3D T2 adventure ride/show/headbonk. Illustrates how much trouble they went to in creating a mini extension of the Terminator storyline. With Cameron and Co. involved, you just know that attention to detail is going to be pretty amazing. Worth watching just to hear Arnold say ďT2 3DĒ.

Script
If you feel like reading the final shooting script co-penned by Cameron, itís all here in 8,476,302 text screens for you to flick through and develop R.S.I. Please consult your doctor before any excessive use of your remote thumb.

17 Storyboard Sequences
Hereís a cool idea: take a screen grab of every image in these storyboards and paste them together to make your very own T2 comic book. Or, find a few good boards you like, blow them up to about A3 size, and let little kiddies use them as a colouring book. Theyíll have hours of fun trying to get just the right shade of fleshy pink/brown for Sarah Connorís burning skin when the nuclear shockwave hits her! There are only about 367,564 boards to flick through here, so itís a little easier going on your thumb than the script option above.

60 Video Segments (41:57)
Yes, it says 60. BUT! (thereís always a Ďbutí, isnít there?) theyíre usually very short clips, under a minute each, which add up to the final 42 minute running time, and you canít play them all in one long clip. You have to load each clip from a silly menu system which breaks them all down into various topics covered. These include: writing, researching, design, effects pre-visualisation, casting, the actors, costumes, makeup, weapons training, various bits behind the scenes, stunts, miniatures, models and CGI effects, animatronics, photography and editing, multi-angle dailies, sound design (with multi-audio channel examples), scoring and mixing, demonstration of the process of creating a pan & scan and letterbox version from the Super 35mm neg, omitted scenes, Cameron on the validity of Special Editions, a T2 convention and Arnold saying ďIíll be backĒ in a few different languages.

Thereís a lot of good stuff in there, some far too brief leaving you wishing for more, but mostly just annoying in that you canít tell the system to play them all in one shot. Still, there arenít too many DVDs around that have such extensive video coverage of so much of the filmmaking process, so itís well worth your while to take some time exploring this section.

Data Core (22:02)
Right, so if your thumb hasnít snapped off yet with all the remote twiddling so far, it probably will in this section. This is a companion piece to the 'Video Segment' section above, so it is predominantly the same coverage again of all the processes in the filmmaking experience, but as a compilation of still text and image frames instead, plus from time to time it will use video clips or other animations from the 'Video Segments' above for additional enhancement. I didnít bother counting all the pages, but I figure this area runs into the region of about four billion screens. You can select the area to jump to by running through the chapter menu, or play it right through from the beginning covering everything in orderly fashion.

The content is often very good, and if youíre like me at all (you have my pity) sometimes having a good read is better than watching a video clip, plus you can read through it quietly at your leisure without disturbing any one else who may be trying to sleep while youíre trying to get your DVD reviews done, dammit!

Teasers and Trailers (22:02)
One teaser trailer (which is the coolest of the lot, showing the creation of the Terminator on something like a Ford production line (but without the product recalls), two trailers for the original release which play on keeping the protective role of Arnold disguised and a trailer for the Special Edition release.

Overall

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Phew! What a load of extras to get through, thereís something for everyone in there. If you donít like anything here, then throw out your DVD player and go back to Betamax. Now, to wrap up this review with a few final words from Arnie.

DVDnet: Okay, well this has been a great review for me. Iíve spoken to the Terminator himself, and Iíve had a first hand look at the fantastic new DVD release of this action classic, and Iím happy to say that this is without a doubt a new candidate for our prestigious DVDnet GOLD award. Congratulations, Arnold!

A.S: DVDnet GOLD? Is dat a chogcolate bar or someting?

DVDnet: No, itís actually an extremely sought-after award handed out by this website to what we feel are the best quality DVDs released. Itís an elite list of DVDs, and now youíve joined its ranks.

A.S: Zo?

DVDnet: Yeah, good point. So, whatís next for you? Another film, or are you concentrating on your political career now?

A.S: Now I wandt to concentrate on politigs, budt firsdt I am magking one more moofie, called Rapunzelís Revenge. It is da heartwarming story of an orphan with long hair called Rapunzel who is reunited widt his long lodst mudder and fudder. Den a crazy psycgho played by Christopher Walgken, who hass funtazzic hair, blowns da parents away, so Rapunzel travels back in time andt gedts revenge. Itís a liddle different from my normal stuff, and idt has some songs in it. I play Rapunzel. It has a budget of 300 million dollars.

DVDnet: It sounds great, canít wait for the DVD. Well, thanks for your time Arnold, thanks for the Ultimate Edition DVD, Terminator 2 - Judgement Day: Ultimate Edition is a fantastic DVD and a must buy for fans who donít own a copy yet.